


Broken Pieces

by thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey



Series: Breathe [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crying, Fluff, Gen, Injury, Opening Up, PTSD, smart paladins, space hot chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 19:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20102098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey/pseuds/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey
Summary: Separated from the other paladins, Keith is badly injured, and Pidge is left to take care of him. She's not sure what he's more scared of: the gloop monsters hanging around, or her.She's not quite sure she wants to know.





	1. Distress Beacon

Pidge ducked as the whoosh of an arrow sounded, thanking her lucky stars that she was so small. She ducked behind a rock, and had a sword to her throat immediately.

“Keith, it’s me!”

“Sorry.” The blade lowered, and Keith peeked over the rock, ducking back down as arrows shot over his head. “They’re moving in.”

“Do you know where the others are?”

Keith shook his head. “We got separated. You’re the only one I’ve seen.” He nodded towards a steel bunker. “What do you think? Can you lock them out if we make it? I don’t want to corner us in a metal shooting bin, but if you can keep them out, then it’s probably the safest bet. They’ve got bows and arrows—I’m not sure they’re technologically equipped to get in.”

Pidge eyed it. “I don’t know.  _ Someone _ had to put it there. They might have the means.”

“But this patrol certainly doesn’t, and we just need to stay long enough to get help from the others, or maybe call the red lion. Can you lock it?”

“I can lock it. I’ll need some cover, though.”

“I’ll cover you. On three, we run for it. Three… Two… One…”

They bolted for the bunker , shields up, arrows hissing through the air around them. Once they were inside, Pidge went right for the door panel , working by the dim light provided by the one dingy lightbulb in the bunker . Keith stood in the doorway, bayard out and shield up, blocking arrows.

Pidge fiddled with the wires in the door, trying to get it to  _ close _ , come on, why did they have to genetically lock it?! She pulled off her helmet, holding the mouthpiece close to the doors and turning on the communications link. She got nothing but static, but the radio signal fudged the signals coming from the control pad, sending its own signals

“Pidge, hurry!”

“I’m trying! I need another radio signal to take control!”

Without hesitation, Keith ripped his helmet off and threw it to her. She turned on the coms, using the link between the helmets to command the door to shut and lock. It started to slowly close, just as Keith’s shield shattered.

“Keith, out of the way, your shield is down!”

“They’ll get in if I move!”

To Pidge’s astonishment, he started slicing arrows out of the air, destroying them before they could hit him. The door was still inching shut.

“Hurry up!” Pidge ordered it, “Close faster!”

It obliged, slamming shut so hard it nearly caught the tip of Keith’s sword, but the red paladin deactivated his bayard just in time.

Pidge leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. “That was close.”

Keith staggered back into the wall and slid down it, wincing. Pidge gasped. He hadn’t managed to get all of the arrows—his armor had stopped most of them, but the areas with only his flight suit weren’t so lucky. There were three arrows lodged in his gut, one piercing his left hand, one in his right knee, and another stuck straight in his jaw. Pidge realized, with a start of guilt, that he must have been hit when he’d turned to throw the helmet to her.

Keith pulled weakly at the arrow in his jaw, hissing in pain. Pidge dug through her belt pouches until she found a roll of bandages, then took in a deep breath. “Okay. Ooookay. Here we go. Hold on,  Keith, I’ve got you.” She gently tugged Keith’s hand away from the arrow, took her glove off for a better grip, then wrapped her hand around the shaft and pulled,  _ hard _ .

Keith screamed, and his fist darted out, punching Pidge right in the gut. Pidge doubled over with a  _ whoof _ , then dodged a flailing fist, pinning Keith’s arm to his side and bandaging his jaw, putting pressure on the wound. Keith whimpered, and his arm went limp. Crimson was already seeping through the bandage, and Pidge pressed harder, wadding up the bandage like a gauze pad and pressing until the blood flow slowed down. She bandaged the wound again, and then turned to examine the arrow as Keith leaned back against the wall, breathing ragged.

“It’s barbed. I shouldn’t have pulled it out—I’ve made the wound worse, I’m sorry, Keith.”

Keith groaned. “’s okay,” he murmured, eyes unfocused.

“Can you call your lion? Red normally comes when you’re in danger, right? ”

“Ugh—I—I don’t know— I can try—”

Pidge put a hand on his chest, lowering him gently to lay on the ground. “Don’t strain yourself. Take it easy. I’m going to try and contact the others.” She tapped her helmet, but there was nothing but static on the com link. She frowned, and activated the distress beacon in her armband. Maybe they’d see that. She activated Keith’s beacon too, just in case.

A rustle caught her attention, and she whirled to see a pair of eyes shining in the shadows. She pointed her bayard at it, scooting in front of Keith. “Who’s there?”

“No one,” a raspy voice answered, “Just an old prisoner.”

“Prisoner? How? The door was open!”

“Electric collar. The natives didn’t trust me. As you’ve seen, they’re not exactly welcoming to strangers.”

Pidge didn’t lower her bayard. “Come out where I can see you.”

There was no answer, only another rustle. “You don’t have any need to protect your companion. I have no interest in him.”

Pidge whirled to point her bayard in the direction of the voice . “Stay where you are!”

“No, he’s absolutely useless to me. He’s injured. Dying.”

“He’s going to be fine!”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s limp. I like my food fresh and  _ wriggling _ .”

Something lunged out of the shadows, grabbing for Pidge. She stumbled backwards with a yelp, swiping with her bayard. She missed, and then felt something sting her. She looked to see a tentacle with a stinger on the end stuck in her hand.

“You will never find your brother,” the creature hissed, “Your friend here will die in agony. You will never escape. And the rest of your friends have been captured. The natives are planning their execution as we speak. There will be no one to help you! You will be alone forever!”

Pidge felt a deep, ancestral panic rising up in her throat, making her limbs go weak. This thing was right. The reason she couldn’t get in contact with anyone was because there was no one to get in contact with. And if she couldn’t get Keith help…

Tears dripped from her eyes, and she dropped to her knees. Matt and Dad were lost. Keith was dying. Mom would be alone.  _ She _ would be alone. The tentacle attached to her hand pulsed with light, and the creature laughed, but Pidge didn’t care.

And then, abruptly, the creature shrieked, and the tentacle disappeared. Keith had stabbed the barbed arrow into the creature.

“L-leave… Pidge… alone!” He collapsed back to the floor, his breath coming in short gasps.

“Still alive and wriggling, are you?” The creature  yanked the arrow out of itself with one tentacle and threw it aside,  glid ing past Pidge, and for the first time, Pidge could see it. It was big, and almost shapeless. There were tentacles all over it, and one great big red eye. It didn’t have a mouth, and Pidge wondered how it could speak.

One of the tentacles reached for Keith’s prone form, and Pidge shot her bayard, severing the tentacle. “Don’t you get near him!”

Anger took over her despair, and she got to her feet, pushing between Keith and the creature. It hissed angrily, and multiple tentacles reached for her. She sliced at them, but more and more kept coming, and then one of them jabbed her neck. Her muscles went numb, and she fell on the floor next to Keith. The tentacles reached over her.

“Green paladin, your fears and despairs were great, but nowhere near the size of his. He could feed me for a long time yet!”

Pidge couldn’t respond, her tongue made of lead. The tentacles all stabbed into Keith, on any patch of exposed skin that they could find. His eyes went glassy, and his whole body began to tremble. The creature stayed where it was, its one eye blinking happily. All of the tentacles pulsed with life, thrumming. And the creature got bigger, sprouting more tentacles to replace the ones that Pidge had sliced away. The tentacles probed for more places to latch on, covering Keith’s whole face.

Pidge felt her little finger twitch, and she angled her hand carefully. She’d only get one shot at this. She took in a deep breath and fired her bayard.

She scored a direct hit on the monster’s eye, and it shrieked, withdrawing its tentacles from Keith’s face. Keith went limp, still trembling, still glassy-eyed.

“You pest!”

The creature picked Pidge up, throwing her bodily across the room into the wall. Pidge’s vision flickered in and out, a dull ache spreading through her head and back. Another tentacle jabbed her in the neck again, and then it went back to Keith. To its  _ feed _ . The tentacles stabbed through his flight suit, and Keith’s body tensed again.

He let out a harsh sob, and Pidge tried to move, to get any part of her body to  _ respond _ , but nothing. The creature sprouted more tentacles, and, to Pidge’s horror, a mouth. Keith sobbed again, and a tongue darted out and licked up his tears. Revulsion rose up in Pidge’s stomach, and then, wonder of wonders, managed to move her head.

Keith was completely covered in tentacles now, and the tentacles seemed to be reeling him in, somehow, the blobby creature melding into him. Keith thrashed, choking and gagging, then went still. Keith’s eyes were red now, and he moved like a jerky marionette.

“Maybe I can get out like this,” he said, but it was the creature’s voice, “Their stupid electric fence might not keep his body from leaving.”

A vague  idea started to form in Pidge’s mind, but before she could react, not-Keith shambled towards her, wearing a creepy grin. He grabbed her arm with his uninjured hand , hauling her towards the door. Her bayard clattered to the floor. “Open it, green paladin!”

“Get out of him!”

“I don’t think so. Being in here lets me feed on his despair forever—he’s trapped in his worst memories, his worst nightmares. And they are  _ whoppers _ , too, let me tell you. Now, open the door. And if you can figure out how to turn off the electric fence while you’re at it, well, I don’t want to risk anything.”

Pidge summoned her bayard to her, dissolving it to her armor and drawing it. “I don’t think so. I’m sorry, Keith,” she whispered, and tasered him.

There was an unearthly wail from the creature, and it oozed out of Keith, letting him drop to the ground. Pidge zapped the ooze. “Leave us alone!”

It wailed again, and slid back to a corner. Pidge dropped down next to Keith, whose eyes were still glassy and unseeing.

“Keith?”

He fixed his eyes on her, and the glassiness turned to fear. “K-Katie?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“K-Katie, I—” Keith shuddered.

“Hold on,” Pidge begged him, “Just hang on. I’ve sent out a distress beacon—they’ll be here soon.”

“K-Katie—” Keith’s eyes were fixed on her bayard, and she hastily put it away.

“I’m sorry, Keith, I wouldn’t have done that to you, but it was the only way I could think of to get him out of you—” The goop slithered towards them again now that her bayard was away.  Pidge whipped the weapon back out and zapped it again. It slunk back again. Keith cringed as if  _ he _ were the one who’d been hit.

_ “Hey, James?” _

_ “Yeah?” _

_ The Garrison cadets had been allowed into town, and James Griffin had come to visit her. He told her that there hadn’t been any sight of Keith, and the Admiral seemed grumpier than usual, so he assumed that Keith was still at large. _

_ “How did Sanda mess up his head? Keith’s, I mean. You said something, last time about how he was having trouble with faces—but how? What happened?” _

_ James had gone stock still, his hand tightening into a fist. “It—It was kind of my fault. I didn’t know it would happen, but I… there was this thing, on the back of his neck, and it sent out electrical pulses into his brain. Like… Like a shock collar, kind of, but worse. I yanked it out, didn’t realize that it would… well, you know. So… yeah. Kind of my fault.” _

_ Katie had nudged his shoulder. “You’re being too hard on yourself. You were only trying to help.” _

_ “Yeah, I know. I know. But I still feel kinda bad about it. I mean, what if there was a way to disable it that wouldn’t do that? I could have rescued him  _ ** _ and _ ** _ kept him from getting brain damage.” _

_ Katie had rolled her eyes. “Oh, wow, you weren’t perfect, how could you? You’re ruining my image of you by not being  _ _ absolutely  _ _ perfect _ _ all of the time _ _ .” _

_ “Not being perfect gives me an identity crisis,” he’d agreed with a cheeky grin. _

_ She’ _ _ d socked him i _ _ n the arm. _

“It’s the electricity of my bayard, isn’t it?” she asked softly, “That’s what’s making you freak out? I’m sorry.”

Keith didn’t respond, the only indication that he was alive the faint rise and fall of his chest and the occasional blink of his eyes.

Pidge kept talking, trying to keep him awake. “James told me—James is Griffin, you remember, right? Blink twice if you remember that Griffin’s name is James.”

Keith blinked twice.

“You  _ are _ listening!” Pidge proclaimed. Relief calmed anxiety she hadn’t even known was there. Keith was still conscious and aware . She just had to keep him that way. “Right, well, James told me about the—the electricity knob.”

A slow blink.

“Uh-huh.” Pidge curled her knees to her chest, keeping a careful eye on the gloop in the corner. “Keith? Um, what happened on Earth? I’m sorry that I told the others about it. Not a lot, but I told them about James’ rescue, and I’m sorry, I’m sure that you didn’t want me to tell them, but you were seeing us as enemies, and I wasn’t sure what to do, so I’m really,  _ really _ sorry.”

Another slow blink. The goop made another pass at them, and received several more volts of electricity for its trouble. Pidge bit her lip, wishing that Keith would say something— _ anything _ —but he was silent. As if he were already gone. As if she were alone.

Pidge’s helmet crackled to life . “Pidge? Pidge, are you there? Do you copy?”

Pidge could have cried with relief. “Shiro! Yes, Shiro, I’m here, I copy! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thankyouthankyouthankyou!”

“Pidge, is Keith with you? His distress beacon is in the same area, but he’s not picking up.”

“Yes, he’s here. He’s…” Pidge glanced down at Keith, her heart rising through her throat. “He’s not doing too well. He got shot a few times. Allura will need a pod.”

“ Did you pull the arrows out?”

“No. Well—I got one of them out, but they’re barbed arrowheads, Shiro. We’ve got to cut them out, because trying to pull them out will just cause more damage. Tell Allura to get what she’ll need for that.”

“Will do. Where are you?”

“There’s this steel bunker—Shiro, please hurry, there’s some kind of creature in here, and I can fend it off with my bayard, but it—it, like,  _ possessed _ Keith, so please try to get here soon.”

“We’re on our way. Damage report, Pidge. Tell us where the arrows are.”

“Okay.” Pidge steadied her breathing. She was calm. Collected. She wouldn’t panic. She would hold on, give her report, and sit tight until they came to get her. Calm. Collected. “Three gut shots. One in his left hand. One in his right knee. I think I can get the one in his hand out—it looks like the arrowhead tore all the way through.”

“Okay. You do that. We’ll be there soon, Pidge. Just hang on.”

“I will.” Pidge turned the com off, examining Keith’s hand. He watched with detached , glazed interest as she lifted his hand and  turned it to look at the arrowhead. It had gone all the way through, sticking out of his palm. Pidge activated her bayard, and he flinched away from it.

“Keith, I’m going to be real careful. I won’t touch you with it. I just need to cut away the ends. Can you trust me to do that? Blink twice if you’re okay with that.

Two slow blinks, and ragged breathing that sped up as Pidge brought her bayard closer to his hand. She carefully sliced away the feathered end and cut the arrowhead off of the shaft, cutting as much of the shaft as she could without getting too close to his skin, the flight suit torn and ragged.

“This is going to hurt,” she warned, and pushed the shaft all the way through the wound, pulling the piece of wood out completely. Keith’s back arched in pain, and he let out a strangled cry. Pidge threw the shaft to the side and pressed a wad of bandages to either side of the wound. Keith whimpered and pushed at her hands weakly with his good hand.

“Katie—Katie, stop,” he choked, “Katie—it hurts—”

Pidge blinked away tears.  “I’m sorry, Keith, I’ve got to do this, it’ll make you feel better, I  _ promise _ .”

“Ngh—” Keith’s hand fell away, his breathing heavy and hard.

“Keith?” No response. “Keith, blink twice if you can hear me!” Keith did not blink twice. “Keith? KEITH!”

There was pounding at the door, and Pidge ran to it, throwing it open to reveal Shiro, Lance and Hunk. Shiro went right for Keith, scooping him up and walking quickly but carefully towards the black lion. Pidge threw herself at Hunk, tears dripping from the corners of her eyes, and he wrapped her in a hug, letting her cry into his armor.

“Hey,” Lance soothed, nudging her shoulder. “He’ll be okay. He’s tough. Nothing can kill that guy, he wouldn’t let anything kill him. He’ll survive completely out of spite.”

“It’s all my f-f-fault,” she wailed, “I told him to cover me, and—and—and—”

“It’s okay,” Hunk soothed, still hugging her, “Everything’s going to be oooookay.”

“And then the monster—it wouldn’t have gone for him—it would have left him alone—but he saved me from it, and—and then it—” Pidge burst into a fresh round of tears as Hunk steered her towards the yellow lion. The black lion had already blasted off. “And I thought—I thought I might be stuck there a-alone for-for-forever!”

“We’ve got you,” Hunk murmured quietly, “We’ve got Keith, and he’s going to be okay. You’re not alone. We’ve got you.”


	2. There Is No "I" in "Voltron"

Pidge watched anxiously as a medbay robot bustled off into the infirmary with a floating gurney that Keith was laying on, an oxygen mask over his face. “He’ll be okay, right?” she asked Allura, “There won’t be any problems, right?” Beside her, Shiro looked to Allura for confirmation. 

“The medbots are very efficient,” Allura assured her, “While I am equipped to handle stitches and pod preparation, surgery is quite out of my realm. We used to have doctors on board, but even then, the medbots were in use, programmed by the most brilliant Altean medical doctors. Nothing will go wrong.” 

Then everything went wrong. 

Keith’s eyes suddenly opened, and he ripped the oxygen mask off of his face and threw it to the floor, his eyes glowing a fierce yellow, his pupils slits. When the medbot approached him, he smacked it away, sitting up. His eyes faded back to normal, and he fell back down to the table. The medbot approached again, holding the mask and imploring him placidly to cooperate and hold still, that he was in excellent care and had no need to be worried. And then he was up again, sending a fresh spurt of blood out of his wounds, his eyes glowing again. 

Allura had already vaulted the couch, an impressive feat in her dress, and was running into the medbay, dodging a flying scalpel that Keith had thrown. Pidge and Shiro followed, Pidge’s heart beating frantically in her chest. 

“Keith!” Allura dodged a flailing fist. “Keith, calm down, you’re injured!” 

“Get it away from me!” Keith shouted. 

“Keith, listen to me—Keith—Keith!” 

Pidge reached her side, shooing off the medbot. “Keith, hey—” She dodged a hit. “Keith—ugh! Okay! Hey! Snap out of it!” Pidge summoned all of her resolve and slapped Keith across the face, carefully avoiding where he’d been shot in the jaw. Keith stopped thrashing around and stared at her, his eyes still doing that thing. Shiro gave her a surprised look as well. Pidge took in a deep breath. “Sorry. Princess?” 

“Keith, look at me.” He did. “Keith, you’re hurt badly. I know that you don’t want to be put under, but we can’t take the arrows out without surgery.” Pidge thought that Keith might have flinched at the word ‘surgery,’ but she couldn’t be sure. 

“Don’t put me under,” he begged, his eyes fading back to normal. His face tightened, and he fell back onto the table, his breath coming in frantic pants. “Don’t… Allura…” 

“I know it frightens you, but Keith, we don’t have a choice.” Keith’s eyes fixed on the scalpel he’d thrown, and Allura moved between him and it. “Keith. _ Please_.” Keith hesitated, looking from Allura, to Shiro, who nodded. 

“Keith, it’s okay. It’s not going to hurt you.” 

Keith didn’t look too convinced of that. “But…” 

“Keith,” Allura hedged, “I think—perhaps—do you want me to tell them?” 

Keith bit his lip, then gave a short nod, closing his eyes, his hand drifting to his stomach. 

The medbot had been sneaking in closer as Allura calmed Keith down, and it took that moment to pounce, injecting him with a sedative. Keith’s eyes opened and widened, and he looked at Allura in shock and betrayal. 

“I’m sorry, Keith,” she sighed. 

“You…” 

Pidge winced guiltily as Keith’s eyes slid shut, and he stopped tensing. The medbot began methodically strapping the mask back on and regathering its surgical tools. Allura steered her and Shiro out of the room where Coran was waiting for them. 

“We should leave the medbot to it.” 

Shiro confronted Allura once they were out. “You were distracting him?! So that that thing could jab him?” 

“He’s confused, and he wouldn’t let the medbot close. Shiro, he needs medical help. It was either trick him or let him die.” 

“She’s right,” Pidge said hollowly, “We didn’t have a choice. But Allura? What did you mean about telling us? What do you need to tell?” 

Allura sagged like all of the air had been let out of her. “I need all of the paladins for this. I don’t want to tell the story more than once.” 

The followed her back to the common room, and she sank down on a couch. Hunk and Lance looked up curiously. “Everything alright?” 

“I—I have something to tell you. All of you. About Keith, and what happened to him back on Earth.” 

“Admiral Sanda, a Garrison guard and a doctor kidnapped him,” Lance offered. 

“She terrified him. Hurt him. Gave him nightmares,” Shiro said quietly. 

“Made him push the limits of human endurance, punished him if he didn’t,” Hunk piped up sadly. 

“Shock collared him like a dog,” Pidge growled, “Starved him. Electrocuted him.” 

Allura blinked in surprise, her eyes wide. “It seems that we all have different parts to the same story,” she said finally, “What exactly do we all know?” 

Lance shrugged. “He saw Sanda, a Garrison guard, and a doctor under the Yemae toxin. That’s all I know.” 

“Oh. Um. He didn’t react well to the physicals,” Hunk ventured tentatively, glancing at Allura, “I asked why, and he—he, uh, he told me that she made him do stuff like run until he passed out, and she’d zap him with electricity if he stopped.” 

“He’s been having nightmares,” Shiro said softly, “Nightmares about Sanda coming for him. And other things, too, but mostly her.” 

“She kept a device on him that kept him pinned with electric shocks,” Pidge snarled, “And she wouldn’t feed him or even give him water. When Griffin rescued him, he was just skin and bones, and he couldn’t even walk.” She faced Allura. “What were _ you _ going to tell us?” 

Allura hunched her shoulders, looking very small in that moment. “She knocked him out and cut him open,” she whispered, tears blooming in her blue eyes, “She opened him up to see what he was made of and then sewed him shut.” 

There was a moment of silence, shock slamming into Pidge like a sledgehammer, and then. “WHAT?!” 

Pidge jumped. She had never, _ ever _ seen Shiro so angry. His normally calm face was a mask of fury, and Allura flinched. 

“They did surgery to figure out what his tissue was made of,” she continued in that whisper, “He…” She broke off, gulping. “I’m sorry.” 

“_You _ don’t apologize,” Shiro growled. He started pacing. “No wonder he was so scared of that medbot! _ Stars_, and we left him alone!” 

“He’s in the pod,” Allura offered timidly, “The medbot was very fast and efficient, and he’s out of any danger now.” 

“We need to be there,” Pidge said firmly, “When he gets out. We need to be there with him.” 

“I’m going to make space-hot-chocolate,” Hunk offered, “It’ll be good for him. To have something warm, I mean.” 

Lance looked up at Shiro. “Sleepover?” 

“Sleepover,” the older man confirmed, “Set the common room up, and grab Keith’s Earth clothes while you’re at it; Pidge, Allura and I will stay with Keith. We’ll com you when he’s coming out.” 

Pidge and Allura followed Shiro into the infirmary, where a singular pod stuck out of the ground, Keith visible inside. 

“I didn’t know…” Shiro murmured, “He wouldn’t ever tell me what happened on Earth, but…” 

“I’m sorry,” Allura said quietly, “I didn’t want to keep secrets from you, but Keith asked me not to tell.” 

Shiro looked at Pidge, his grey eyes desperate. “Why? Why wouldn’t he trust me?” 

“You mean the world to him, Shiro,” Pidge said quietly, “He…” 

“He was worried what you’d think,” Allura picked up, “Worried that you’d see him differently. That you’d think about what they did, and how he’s been hurt every time you looked at him.” 

Pidge nodded. “He felt like if he told you, you’d look at him like…” 

“Like he was broken,” both girls said in unison. 

“How do you know that?” Shiro whispered, “How could you possibly know?” 

“He said something like it to me,” Allura replied, looking at the unconscious Keith, “Back when I asked him about his scars and he finally confessed. That he worried—he worried we’d look at him the way Sanda had looked at him.” 

“No…” Shiro murmured, “Never…” 

Allura frowned curiously at Pidge. “How did _ you _ know he felt that way?” 

“Because I felt the same way,” Pidge answered, “Because when the Kerberos mission disappeared, it was like a stab to the chest. But I never told anyone how it was hurting me, because then they’d all pity me, and I didn’t want that, I didn’t want them to treat me differently.” She swiped angrily at moisture in her eyes. “What happened to Keith was so, _ so _ much worse. I knew he had to feel the way I did, back then. Or worse.” 

Pidge felt something wrap around her, and realized it was Allura, hugging her. Pidge froze, not quite sure what to make of this. Allura let her go before it got too awkward, and took a step back. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, “You just… looked like you needed one.” 

Pidge gulped, pushing back tears. “Okay. Um. Yes. Thank you,” she added as an afterthought. 

The pod beeped, and Shiro called Hunk and Lance. They raced in, just as the pod opened, and a bewildered Keith tumbled out of the pod. Shiro caught him, and supported him, walking to the common room couches. Lance had set up a mess of blankets and pillows on the ground, but Shiro opted to sit Keith down on the couch instead. Pidge spotted his jacket and draped it over his shoulders. He just looked at them all with wide, confused eyes. 

“Um…” he croaked, “Why are we having a sleepover?” 

“We’ve pieced the whole story together,” Allura told him gently, “We all know what happened.” 

Keith suddenly seemed to get a whole lot smaller. “Oh,” was all he said. 

Pidge grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself, grapping one of Hunk’s mugs of space-hot-chocolate. She handed it to Keith, and then took one for herself. She sat down on the couch next to Keith. “Keith?” 

He pulled his jacket tighter around himself. “Um. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize for what happened to you,” Shiro told him. 

“Okay. Okay. Right. Um.” Keith gulped. “So… what exactly do you know?” 

Allura filled him in on what they’d put together, and he nodded, looking as if he might just like to disappear. 

“Yep. Yeah. Okay. So. Um. The reason… the reason Sanda did what she did… it was because I was Galra. She, uh…” Keith gulped again, staring into his cup. “Um. Yeah. Basically what you guys said. Uh. So. Also, Iverson was there.” 

“Figures,” Shiro growled, looking very un-Shiro-like. 

“No. No, Shiro, he—he tried to help me. Not great, but he… he wasn’t like Sanda.” 

Hunk looked like he was going to be sick. “So every time we talked about going back to Earth…” 

Keith somehow managed to shrink even further. “I don’t blame you for wanting to go home. It’s just that… I can’t call the same place home.” 

Allura made a disgusted sound. “Well. When we go back to Earth, we certainly aren’t going to work with your _ Galaxy Garrison _.” She spat the last two words like a curse. 

Keith looked horrified at the idea. 

“No,” Pidge agreed, “Covering up the Kerberos mission, I can understand. But this? They’ll be lucky if we don’t blow them up.” 

Keith murmured something unintelligible into his mug, drinking his space-hot-chocolate to avoid looking any of them in the eye. 

Shiro looked sharply at him. “What is it?” 

Keith flushed a bright pink, muttering something under his breath. 

“Come again?” Lance said, blinking in confusion. 

Keith turned an even brighter pink. “I said you shouldn’t give up going home for me,” he pushed out, his face making the transition into red and his eyes staring fixedly into his cup. 

“This isn’t about going home,” Shiro said, shaking his head, “It’s about keeping you safe. We can’t trust them not to try it again, and I’m not going to see you getting hurt for no reason!” 

“The Garrison’s our best bet at being able to defend Earth,” Keith said softly, “We _ have _ to work with them. I—I’ve known that for a while. It’s—” 

“Do _ not _ say okay!” Pidge shouted, jumping up. Space-hot-chocolate spilled, but she didn’t care. “It is _ not _ okay! They can’t just get away with this! You can’t just roll over because we might need them! They have to know that they can’t just—they can’t just…” 

“Hang on,” Lance interjected, holding one finger in the air, “They said that you crashed a hoverbike and died!” 

“Yes, Lance,” Pidge said in an exaggeratedly patient tone, “I’m glad you were paying attention in current events class. They _ clearly _ set it up to grab Keith!” 

“No,” Keith interrupted, “No, they didn’t. _ I _faked the crash. I _ wanted _ them to think that I was dead.” He looked down at his cup. “It didn’t work out.” 

“Right,” Lance continued, “So, who knew you were still alive?” 

Keith blinked. “Um. Dr. Jenny. A doctor at the Garrison,” he clarified for Allura and Coran’s sake, “she helped me after I faked my death. Dr. Chris. Sanda. Iverson. Griffin and Ka—I mean, Pidge. A few random guards.” 

Lance nodded empathetically. “Did Sanda tell the command?” 

Keith shook his head, comprehension dawning in his eyes. “No. No, what she was doing was illegal. Iverson said so. She never told the higher-ups what she was up to. They thought I was dead.” 

Lance’s eyes gleamed. “If they weren’t in on it, she’s in trouble! Okay, so here’s what we do: we don’t go to Sanda’s branch. Nope. She’ll just try to nab Keith again, and we can’t have that. So, instead, we take Voltron _ straight _ to the top. We cut out the middle man. Who cares if we know Sanda and Iverson better? We can’t go to them! No, we’ll go to the big commanders, the ones in charge of Sanda! 

We’re the defenders of the universe, for Pete’s sake! We can go to whomever we please! In fact, it’ll be _ expected _ for us to go to someone higher in authority than Sanda! It’ll just be insulting and improper for us to go to _ her _ ! Nope. We’ll go to the Brigadier Generals, the Commanders, the President if we have to! And we expose Sanda! We smack her _ hard_! We get her _ court marshalled _ for this, she gets thrown in a prison cell for life, presto change-o, Keith’s safe, Sanda’s out of the way, we can still go back home and help out Earth and even work with the Garrison! Keith’s safe, we get revenge on Sanda, everyone’s happy! ‘Cept Sanda, obviously, but she should have thought about it before she picked with the paladins of Voltron!” 

Pidge laughed. “Lance, for once, you’re a genius!” 

He grinned smugly. “I know, right?! Shiro, what do you think?” 

Shiro nodded thoughtfully. “We’ll need proof, though. Besides Keith’s word, because the courts might not take his word against Sanda. He might be a paladin, but Sanda’s been with the Garrison for a long time.” 

“We’ve got James,” Pidge offered, “He saw it. And so did I. And if we could get through their security feed, we’ll have video evidence.” 

“Dr. Jenny, too,” Keith added. His eyes had gotten brighter, “She was there when they locked me up.” 

“What about the guards, and the doctor who… you know…” 

“I don’t know. I couldn’t name the guards, so they’re probably safe. But Dr. Chris…” 

“Jenny can probably force him into confessing,” Shiro said with a half-grin. 

“We’ve got a plan, then,” Lance said with a grin, “Pitch a fit until they fire Sanda.” 

Hunk’s grin matched Lance’s. “Excellent planning. Anyone want space-hot-coco?” 

Xxx 

Pidge couldn’t sleep that night. She was too wired, so she stayed up, staring at the Castle ceiling while everyone else snored around her. 

Well, almost everyone else. There was a rustling, and then someone slid off from their blanket pile, pulling a blanket with them and slipping away, towards the bridge. Pidge rolled over and followed them silently as they snuck onto the bridge, looking out at the vast expanse of space. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Pidge asked. 

She was pinned to the wall in a heartbeat, and she held her hands up defensively. “Whoa, hey, it’s me, Pidge. Calm down, Keith.” 

Keith let go, breathing hard. “Sorry. You startled me.” He went back to the window, his eyes fixed on the expanse of space. 

They stood in awkward silence for a minute, then Pidge gulped. “Keith—earlier today—with the bayard… I’m sorry. For zapping you. And for standing by while the med droid attacked you.” 

He went completely silent and still, staring out at the stars. 

“I didn’t know—I didn’t know why you were freaking out with the medbot, and I’m sorry.” 

“Pidge, do you think there’s something wrong with me?” 

Pidge blinked, startled by the question. “What?” 

“Do you think there’s something wrong with me,” he repeated, “Do you think… do you think I’m broken?” 

Pidge hesitated, then moved to stand next to him. “Keith?” 

“Back a while ago—Queen Trianna, remember her? She said that I had a lot of broken pieces. Is she right?” 

“Keith, anyone would after going through what you did! There’s nothing wrong with that!” 

“I wanted to tell you,” he pushed out, not looking at her, “I wanted to tell you, and to tell Shiro what happened, I really did.” He was talking fast now, like if he slowed down, he wouldn’t be able to talk to them. “I wanted to, but I didn’t want to hurt you, and I didn’t want to make things hard for you, and I was scared—scared you’d think I was weak, but I kept wanting to, and when I talked to Allura, and when I talked to Hunk, I felt better, but I didn’t tell either of them the whole truth, and I didn’t tell anyone else the whole truth back there either, because the truth is, Pidge, when Sanda had me, it was—it was like she tried to strip away everything from me, and she made me feel like dirt, and no one _ gets it _ . I was tired, and I was hungry, and I didn’t know when I could stop, or if I even _ could _ stop, and I spent every day thinking that this was going to be the day that I finally collapsed and died, or that Sanda would decide she didn’t want me anymore and cut me open and dissect me, and I knew that I couldn’t do anything to stop it, and I would _ never _ be able to anything to stop it.” 

Keith paused for breath, glancing at her, and then looking back out at the stars. “And after that creature was on me, making me move, I went through it all over again in my mind and my nightmares, and it was too much, I had to tell someone, I’m sorry, but it just keeps whirling around, pressing down like something is sitting on my chest, and if I don’t get it off, if I don’t tell someone, I’ll explode. She nearly killed me, so many times, and I just…” his violet eyes filled with tears, and suddenly he collapsed to his knees. “I’ve just had this, all of these memories and nightmares, and I—I can’t take it on my own anymore!” He wiped at his eyes, sniffling. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just—Queen Trianna was right, I’m just pieces all over the place, and I can’t—I can’t deal with them on my own.” 

Pidge knelt down next to him. “Keith. You don’t _ have _ to deal with them on your own. That’s part of being a team, yeah? We work together. On everything.” 

“I know,” he whispered, eyes shut tight with tears leaking from the corners, “I know, I know that’s what I’m _ supposed _ to do, but I just—what happens if I work with the team, and then something happens? What if I open up, and then—then someone dies? I’ll be worse than I was before!” 

“Keith, no. No, you won’t. Look at me. Come on, look at me.” He did, lip trembling. “Okay. Keith, listen. It is _ always _ better to have heartbreak than to never love. Believe me, I know. Please. Don’t push us away. Let us help.” 

“I don’t know. I can’t.” 

“Yes, you can. You just did. You opened up. You let me in. You told me everything that was wrong. And you feel better, don’t you?” 

“Kinda,” he muttered, “Like how throwing up makes you feel better when you’re sick.” 

“Alright. Do you think that I’m judging you for it? Keith, look at me. Do you think I’m judging you for what you told me?” 

He looked at her, eyes still brimming with tears. “No,” he muttered thickly. 

“Good. That’s good, right? See? Listen. Lance made a good plan, surprisingly. The others are all behind it. We’re going to work together. We’re going to protect you. We’re going to keep anyone else from hurting you. And we’re going to kick Sanda into the sun. You should see it, remember when Lance tried to kick something in Voltron and made us fall over? Well, Allura can actually do it.” 

Keith gave a choked laugh. 

Pidge smiled encouragingly. “There is no “I” in “Voltron”, but if you’ll look, you’ll find that there _ is _ a “tron”, and the Tron movies are about video games, which, as we all know, are more fun with friends that show you how to defeat the boss when you’re stuck , so you’d better let us in , otherwise you’ll _ never _ defeat Sanda. So, what do you say?” 

Keith snorted. “I say you’re a geek, Katie.” 

“And?” 

Keith smiled at her, wiping the last of his tears from his eyes. “And I’d like you to help me defeat this video game.” 

Pidge felt a crooked grin slip over her face. “Game on.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okeydoke, we're in the endgame now, boys.


End file.
